My favorite local band, The Electric Boa is a five piece hard rock band, and their debut Candy Coated Cyanide features some of the most original and kick-ass hard rock to come out in the last decade. If The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes and Buckcherry (without all the shit) and lead songwriter Higgsy and all his eccentricities had a foursome, this would be its glorious offspring. You can't download this (illegally) anywhere, but it's available via their website and Itunes. THis is super highly recommend.

Dwellers In The Twilight was awesome, but I easily prefer this album - with more depth than ever, band's mixture of funeral doom and sludge is completely enchanting, something you could easily just lose yourself in. One of my favorite albums released this year.

Super underrated blackened death metal from the Czech Republic, Avenger and their debut album Shadows of the Damned is an easy classic and still remains powerfully relevant despite being released fifteen years ago.

Technical black metal is more of a contradiction than Starbursts yet Kathaaria manage to not only play it, but do so very fucking well. Unpredictable and super creative, The Complex Void of Negativity is one for all kinds of extreme metal fans.

An acoustic album by one of the best guitarists ever, there is something truly epic about Thank You despite the fact there is almost no electric guitars used at all. Seriously a beautiful and haunting album.